As Fire Blazes on the Horizon
by XxZuiliu
Summary: Tsuna isn't a hardcore gamer, and neither is Yamamoto. But Sword Art Online is the world's first VRMMORPG; who wouldn't be excited for the official launch? ... Before the 'death game' part of it was introduced, of course. (And the chaos doesn't stop there.) [AU, Widely AU]
1. 1:01 Opening Launch

Title: As Fire Blazes on the Horizon

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! or Sword Art Online.

Warnings: **AU, WIDELY AU**.

(AN at bottom.)

* * *

**As Fire Blazes on the Horizon**

_01: "Ignite"_

* * *

Tsuna reached over and turned off the faucet of the sink, lightly tipping the pot in his hands to drain the water that had gathered on the bottom from the last rinsing. It was a simple thing after that to turn and place the ceramic pot on the drying rack, and he let out a soft, contented little sigh as he finally leaned back and stretched.

_Well, there goes the last of the after-lunch cleanup. _

He glanced up at the clock hanging on the kitchen wall.

_12:48_.

Tsuna nodded to himself in satisfaction and nabbed the two bottles of water he had set aside earlier on the counter, immediately heading towards the living room in search of his roommate. His sock-covered feet slid soundlessly over the wooden floorboards as he walked towards the faint voice emanating softly from that direction, a voice that gradually grew louder and louder as he neared the room –from quiet mumbles to jumbled words, then cohesive sentences.

"_-know that the official launch will be at 1:00 PM. Many players have expressed their excitement at finally being able to experience the virtual world of SAO, which many of the beta-testers have claimed to be the–"_

"Hey there, Tsuna!"

The dark-haired boy sitting on the couch with his laptop open in front of him gave Tsuna a cheery grin and a casual wave as he entered the room, which Tsuna returned with a smile. Yamamoto Takeshi took a brief moment to reach behind himself for the remote control before holding out the small device and turning off the TV. As the reporter's voice disappeared, cut off right in the middle of a sentence, Takeshi quickly scooted over to the left side of the couch and patted the spot he had just vacated.

At the unspoken invitation, Tsuna sat down beside him and peered at the screen from over his roommate's shoulder.

"Is that–?"

"Yup, it sure is." Takeshi flashed another grin at his friend. "Looks like most people are going haywire on the forums right now, haha."

"I'm not surprised," Tsuna replied dryly, and Takeshi laughed. "How long have you been checking out the online forum discussions?"

"Eh… ever since I finished vacuuming the floor like you asked me to?" The tanned teen shrugged. "There's not much new stuff that's going on here, other than the fact that there's a lot more threads for 'being enthusiastic for the official launch' that's in… eleven minutes."

"Ten," Tsuna corrected as the number changed, smiling. "Are you participating in these discussions, too?"

"Nah, there's not much point in doing that. I mean, from what the beta testers say, it's apparently _literally_ like being in another world –tips and tricks for motor control and getting used to a new environment can only go so far when they're ink on paper. Or rather, text on a digital screen." Takeshi reached out his other hand and closed his laptop, quickly powering it down. "I was just browsing through the discussions, seeing if anyone was going to let slip something new. No luck so far and I doubt my luck is going to change in the last ten minutes."

Tsuna hummed lightly in agreement, before holding out Takeshi's bottle of water to him, which the other boy accepted with a grateful nod.

"Well, I still can't believe how lucky we were to even get the NerveGear and SAO in the first place." Tsuna stood up from the couch and ambled his way over to where they had spread out two futon side by side. The power outlets in the living room were much easier to connect the NerveGear to than from the cluttered confines of their respective bedrooms, which was why they had decided to camp out here. "Do you suppose Reborn had anything to do with it?"

"You mean, did he pull some strings to let you buy a game to play… right after he preached that every minute not spent training was a minute wasted?"

Tsuna laughed, "I'm pretty sure he meant that as in, 'Don't slack off for too long because you're playing a game,' not 'Don't play, period.' It's just Reborn's way of… showing affection, I guess."

Takeshi mouthed 'showing affection' in silent amazement, shaking his head.

"C'mon, let's just get ready for this now." Tsuna held up one of the bulky NerveGear helmets limply, "… Er, how does this thing work again?"

"Like this," Takeshi stepped over and deftly connected the wires, before fitting the helmet over Tsuna's head. "We already did the body calibrations when we got them last week, so we don't need to do that again. Now, scoot over, will you?"

Takeshi settled himself down next to Tsuna. It took him a moment longer to ready his own NerveGear, but eventually he managed it with a small cry of triumph that made Tsuna smile.

"How long do we have left before the launch again?"

"Five-ish, I'm guessing?" Tsuna glanced at the watch on his wrist. "Make that three minutes."

"I'm going to set an alarm for 6 PM. Is that okay with you? Dad wants us over at the sushi bar around then, so we should be able to get there around 6:30." Takeshi rolled over and fiddled with his cell phone before setting it back onto the couch and flopping down again.

_12:58._

Yamamoto Takeshi was one of the only friends that Tsuna had –courtesy of constantly moving all over the world during his childhood, only recently settling in Tokyo for the last two years. The two of them hadn't exactly hit it off with each other at first, but they instead ended up slowly gravitating together. For all that Takeshi was popular and well-liked at school as the star of the baseball team, he was actually incredibly isolated from his peers.

Long story short, there had been an accident involving a broken arm and a thwarted murder attempt, which was what solidified their friendship with each other for good. Shortly thereafter Takeshi had found out that Tsuna lived by himself and worked part-time jobs after school to pitch in to the rent for his small apartment, which was when he moved in with his friend –declaring that, as roommates, the burden should be halved between them, which would make it easier on Tsuna.

(And for all his initial protests in the beginning, Tsuna was truly, honestly _grateful_ –grateful that Takeshi _wanted_ to help him. Yamamoto Tsuyoshi had seemed absurdly pleased when his son explained his reasons for moving out, only citing that he wanted the boys to come over to his sushi bar whenever possible. The only other person who had ever done anything like Takeshi had was–)

"Link Start."

Tsuna jerked lightly, having lost track of time in his thoughts, and hastily echoed the voice command that Takeshi had said. Instantly, the world fell away around him –the ceiling disappeared and was immediately replaced by whiteness; a solid world of whiteness that stretched as far as the eye could see, before prismatic lines swarmed in from the edge of his vision, converging together towards a single point and–

_Welcome to Sword Art Online. Please enter your username below._

There was a box, floating in midair, when he opened his eyes again. A closer look discovered that it came with a blue-green keyboard hovering underneath. Hesitantly, Tsuna reached out with a single hand and touched one of the keys, eyes widening with amazement when he could actually feel it vibrate lightly under his fingertip and the corresponding letter appeared in the box above.

He hastily deleted the character and re-typed the name he had decided to use, waiting with bated breath as he was registered by the system.

_Player confirmed. Please proceed to the next step and modify your in-game avatar. _

It was… himself.

Tsuna stared for a moment at his avatar, an inanimate doppelganger of himself, before shrugging off the surrealness of the situation and turning to look at the options bar on the side. There was an incredible variety of factors that players could animate: Skin color, hair color, hair style, eye color, facial structure, height… gender?

(Nope, nope, not touching that last option with a ten-foot pole.)

Well… yes, he _would_ like to be a little taller, but didn't one of the beta discussions mention that the discrepancy in height was a troublesome change to adjust to that made movements jerky and awkward?

Tsuna ended up simply changing his hair into a darker brown and shortening it slightly, adding a tanned tone to his skin as an afterthought, before pressing the 'Confirm' button floating off to the side.

_Avatar confirmed. Saving…_

A bell-like chime rang through the air in a signal of success.

_Natsu, your avatar has been saved. Please stand by while the game is loading in 3… 2… 1…_

Colors swirled together and the ground dropped out from under his feet–

_Thank you for choosing Sword Art Online. We hope you will enjoy your adventure here!_

* * *

As a beta tester, Kirito had the distinct advantage of being privy to certain tidbits of information useful to playing SAO. Information such as the layout of the area map and where the best farming spots were, for example.

It was for that reason that when the player named Klein asked him to show him the ropes, Kirito's mind immediately leapt to one of the fields in the north, a little ways outside the Town of Beginnings, where level 1 Wild Boars spawned sporadically on the grassy plains. The mobs were generally sparser in that location, making it perfect for instructing beginners and first-time NerveGear users on how to kill monsters and use Sword Skills in SAO.

"The System Assist will help you use your skills," he explained, leaning back against the tree. "But you have to get into the right position in order to trigger the Sword Skill first. Then the system will help you carry the movement through and hit your target."

The redhead in front of him continued flailing helplessly against the Wild Boar, continuously taking down tiny slivers of HP with each hit. It got to a point where the Wild Boar finally seemed tired of his feeble attempts as well, lowering its head and headbutting him straight in the–

"OWW!" Klein yelped and dropped to the ground like a rock, curling up in the fetal position. The raven-haired boy watching with him simply sighed, shaking his head at the other man's antics. True, Klein was a rather fun guy to be around, but he had the tendency to dramatize and overreact to everything he saw. In all likelihood, though, it was probably because this was his first time using a NerveGear.

Kirito himself had spent hours upon hours familiarizing himself with this world during the beta-testing period to get to the point where he was now; hadn't his attitude been the same as Klein's in the beginning?

"C'mon, get up. It's not like you can even feel pain here."

"Eh?" Klein blinked, startled by what was just pointed out to him, before smiling sheepishly and scratching his head. "Ah, right, even though this is all so realistic, you can't feel pain… haha, force of habit, I guess."

He gingerly picked himself up from the ground.

"In order to use Sword Skills, it's a bit like… hm, how do I put this…" Kirito mused aloud, taking a moment to pick up a pebble to demonstrate for his companion, "Take the stance for a skill, and when you feel it beginning to build up, just relax and let the system take care of the rest."

Almost as if on cue, the rock began glowing red towards the end of his sentence, and hurtled into the Wild Boar's flank in a flash of crimson light as he released the skill. Startled, the monster spun around and glared, before charging straight at him. Kirito easily dodged the first lunge with a small sidestep and used his sword to block the second, glancing towards Klein and motioning for him to try again.

This time, it was a success.

The redhead's curved blade was coated in a yellow light as the system registered the skill, and he let out a battle cry as he sprinted forward, carving a deep gouge into the boar's side, a long strike that easily took out the remainder of the Wild Boar's HP and shattered the monster in a burst of pixilated light.

"Congrats." Kirito smiled as the man pumped a fist into the air in excitement. "Although, I should mention; the boar that you killed just now is the equivalent of slimes in other games."

"Eh?!" Klein's jaw abruptly dropped upon hearing the parallel as he whirled around to stare at him, gaping. "No way! I thought that thing was a field boss or something! It's way tougher than a slime should be!"

"Didn't you hear? After an entire summer of beta-testing, we only got up to the 10th Floor." He shrugged, a spark of excitement lighting in his chest in anticipation of the challenges to come. "There's 100 floors in total in Aincrad."

"Haa, such a hellish difficulty curve…" Klein whistled and shook his head in amazement, "Hey, speaking of which, I heard that SAO has practically any skill you can think of incorporated into its gameplay, but there's no magic, right?"

"Nope," Kirito confirmed for him. "Some of the beta players raised complaints about it, but there's been no word about a magic expansion to the game."

"Definitely no magic? Eh, that's fine with me." The redhead grinned, "This game is pretty insane already! I mean, if they–"

"H-HEADS UP BELOW!"

Kirito stepped back in alarm when a blue blur suddenly dropped down from the sky, swiftly followed by an orange one. Klein wasn't as lucky, looking up just in time to become a human mattress for the pair of players who literally hurtled down out of nowhere.

Kirito blinked.

Well. This was a new one.

"S-Sorry!" The brunet was the first to roll out of the moaning pile, a movement mirrored by his dark-haired friend. Klein groaned dazedly as he slowly got to his feet again –missing a good chunk of his HP gauge, too, which was now in the red. "I'm really sorry, Takeshi and I were just exploring those areas over there, and there was this– this crazy large boar with giant tusks that was as tall as the town wall and hit like a wrecking ball–"

"Maa, it's okay, it's okay, no harm done." Klein grinned and waved off their apologies, shooting them a thumbs-up, before doing a double-take when he saw the sorry state of his HP. "Wha–?!"

"Better drink a potion," Kirito smiled, before turning his attention onto the newcomers. Judging by that frantic description just now, they had most likely ran into the actual field boss in this area. It was a good thing that nothing had followed them down from wherever they had jumped; the last thing they needed was for a field boss to use Klein as a landing pad as well. Seeing as there were no monsters pursuing them, they had probably gotten far enough to escape from drawing the aggro of the field boss by now.

"I'm really, really sorry about this–"

"Hey, didn't I say it was okay already?" Klein waved a hand carelessly as his HP bar went back up again after drinking a potion. "Just… watch where you're going next time and don't use some other poor guy as a trampoline, yeah? I mean, I'm pretty sturdy and all, but if you landed on someone like Kirito here, you'd probably end up with a pancake on your hand!"

Kirito's head snapped up. "Hey!"

The taller of the two boys laughed good-naturedly. "Tsuna, what do you think? Who should we use as a trampoline next time?"

"There won't _be_ a next time!" 'Tsuna' insisted, groaning at the implication. "Takeshi, do you enjoy watching me suffer or something? I swear, your sense of humor is getting more and more Reborn-like every day!"

Reborn-like?

"Haha, you really think so? I'm flattered."

"That's not a compliment!"

"Really? Sure sounded like one to me," Klein joined in on the friendly teasing, hefting his curved sword onto his shoulder. "So, uh, Tsuna and Takeshi, was it? I'm Klein, and this guy over here is Kirito –Kirito is showing me the ropes in this game since he's one of the betas. Wanna join us?"

"Natsu and Kirisame, actually; we just know each other in real life so we're used to calling each other by our actual names. And… are you sure? I mean, we did kind of crash-land on you and all…" the brunet trailed off, glancing in Kirito's direction.

"I don't mind if Klein doesn't," Kirito shrugged, folding his arms. From what he could see so far, the two seemed to be decent people, for all that they nearly KO'd Klein by complete accident. Though he was a little miffed that Klein hadn't asked his opinion before inviting the duo to join them, he also knew that Klein was friendly and easygoing by nature, the type to waltz up to complete strangers and walk away as friends. The same couldn't exactly be said for himself, which the brunet seemed to understand, judging by the way he was looking at him right now.

Kirito pushed a small smile onto his face. "Pleased to meet you. Welcome to our party, I guess."

"Pleased to meet you too, Kirito." Natsu smiled brightly, holding out his hand, "Thanks for letting us tag along!"

(Even after Kirito let go of Natsu's hand, something in his palm tingled, as if he had held his hand over an open flame. But it wasn't… unpleasant. In fact, it felt warm. It felt… rather nice, really.)

* * *

Being forcibly teleported, Tsuna decided, was a decidedly Not Nice experience. It felt a bit like having the carpet yanked out from under your feet (a stomach-flipping sensation that he could sadly attest to, courtesy of a certain Spartan hitman), perhaps with a dash of being liberally doused in cold water, as well (again, something he could attest to by personal experience).

"What's going on?"

No idea.

Tsuna scanned the large stadium they had been teleported into as more and more flashes of light lit up around them, rapidly bringing other players into the same space. He quickly reached out a hand and grabbed onto Takeshi's wrist –they had gotten separated from Klein and Kirito when they appeared here; Tsuna thanked his lucky stars that he hadn't gotten separated from Takeshi as well. There was something coiling restlessly in the pit of his stomach right now, which most likely meant that something big was coming… and it probably wasn't anything good.

Tsuna truly wanted to be optimistic that they were simply being gathered here for some 'first day' event or for the GMs finally fixing whatever had caused the 'Log Out' button in their menus to be disabled, but…

(A soft voice, whispering in the back of his mind. A vague sense of unease as he looked out across the crowd of players. A faint intuition of something _wrong_, one that was gradually growing stronger –one that he couldn't brush aside anymore. He had assumed that maybe it was because Reborn had dropped back for a surprise check on them again, but he knew that wasn't the case. This feeling, the last time he had felt anything remotely like it had been when–)

_System Error._

_Warning._

_SYSTEM ERROR._

_WARNING._

–the sky turned red. Flashing red signs of 'System Error' and 'Warning' changed the sky from azure blue to crimson red in less than a heartbeat, casting a scarlet shadow upon them all. Tsuna could feel his heart pounding in his chest –or at least some simulation that the game made of the actual, physical sensation– when a viscous red liquid dripped down from between the cracks and twisted together, bulging and swelling not unlike what he had once seen when V–

A cloak.

A red cloak, covering a faceless man in the sky.

It spoke.

"_Greetings, players."_ The robed figure spread its hands, gesturing at its surroundings._ "Welcome to the world of Aincrad. My name is Kayaba Akihiko, and right now, I am the only one who can control this world."_

'Only one who can control this world.' That… didn't sound good. Wait, Kayaba Akihiko? As in, Kayaba Akihiko, the creator of SAO? That Kayaba?

"_I am sure that many of you have realized by now that the 'Log Out' button is missing from your menu. This is not a mistake. I repeat: this is not a mistake. The game has been intentionally designed this way." _The ominous figure garbed in red paused, _"There is no way to log out. Should anyone from the outside attempt to forcibly shut down or remove the NerveGear, the transmitter installed inside will emit a large microwave pulse to destroy your brain… and end your life."_

He wasn't lying.

Tsuna trusted his intuition, it was what had gotten him out of an innumerable number of tight spots before –and right now, it was telling him that _Kayaba Akihiko wasn't lying about trapping 10,000 people in a VR game._

"_This news is currently being spread to those in the real world as well. Unfortunately, there have been several well-meaning attempts by friends and family to remove the NerveGear." _A wave of the hand, and he could see it. Broadcasts of various channels. Online articles. Images of the chaos currently taking place in reality, images that hammered in the cold, harsh truth that faced them. _"As a result, I regret to inform you that 213 players are no longer with us –gone from both Aincrad and the real world. However, as proper measures are now being taken, you may assume that the danger of dying from the NerveGear is now minimal, and focus your efforts on upon clearing the game."_

Another small pause.

"_I now present to you this ultimatum: Defeat the final boss to clear the game, and I will release you. Presently, you are on the first floor of Aincrad. There are one hundred floors total, each with a different boss waiting in every dungeon. There are no methods of resurrection or revival. As soon as your HP is reduced to zero, you are dead. In the same instant that your avatar disappears, the NerveGear will destroy your brain."_

Trapping people in a VR game and forcing them to defeat the game in order to escape? It was… it was…

(Ridiculous. Crazy. Insane.)

… It was real.

He wasn't lying.

_He wasn't lying._

"_I have recently added a present to your personal inventory. Please, have a look."_

Menu. Items. Tsuna scrolled to the bottom to find a Hand Mirror listed there, and–

He hesitated.

(Kayaba is trapping us in a game, forcing us to put our lives on the line for a _game._ Would he really give us anything that would help us here?)

But Takeshi had gone and taken out the mirror and was currently staring at it, so Tsuna bit his tongue and pressed the button as well. The rectangular mirror that materialized in his hand looked simple and innocuous enough, but the reflection inside…

The reflection didn't show Natsu. It showed a reflection of the real Sawada Tsunayoshi, exactly as he appeared in real life.

Stunned, Tsuna almost didn't notice it when he was engulfed in a burst of light that twisted his body like so many others around him until–

"Tsuna! Tsuna, are you alright?"

"… 'M fine, Takeshi." He mumbled dazedly, shaking his head and running a hand through his hair. "What just–"

He froze.

His hair. It wasn't the shorter hairstyle that Natsu sported; rather, it was Tsuna's normal hairstyle. His hairstyle in the real world. That meant…

He glanced up at Takeshi, who had lost the long hair and topknot of Kirisame, and was instead simply Takeshi, who stared back at him with the same surprise written in his eyes. They weren't the only ones shocked by this turn of events –already chaos was beginning to spread throughout the rest of the players at discovering they had been turned back into their original appearances.

"_I will now take this moment to announce the first update to SAO. The Dying Will Flames System has now been enabled. This is a feature new and unique to SAO that has not been introduced in the beta version. I recommend that you all adapt quickly and learn to harness your Flames –this skill will prove both indispensible and invaluable to you in clearing the game."_

… Dying Will Flames?

Dying Will Flames.

_Dying Will Flames._

"… He just broke Omerta," Takeshi whispered softly, eyes wide. Tsuna's own reaction was hardly any better.

* * *

Of course, breaking Omerta meant that someone had to _know_ that it had been broken in the first place. While that was still true in their case, it was literally impossible for the Vindice to swoop in and arrest Kayaba when he had revealed the existence of Dying Will Flames in a closed environment, in a _virtual world._ No one other than the players themselves would ever know of what had transpired here unless they were rescued or managed to escape from the game.

"_This now concludes the tutorial for the official launch of SAO." _The cloaked figure in the sky folded its hands together, bowing its head in what could be construed as a slight nod. _"Players, I wish you the best of luck. Arrivederci."_

Slowly, the figure disappeared, first dissolving into a gelatinous red fluid again before vanishing through the cracks of the scarlet sky –a sky that reverted to a normal blue hue again as soon as Kayaba Akihiko was gone. The damning silence that had befallen them in wake of his departure was stifling, suffocating, crushing–

Then all hell broke loose when someone shattered the silence with a shrill scream.

Instant pandemonium.

"He… he just broke Omerta," Takeshi finally repeated again, still poleaxed by what had just transpired. Tsuna forcibly tugged his friend along as he wove his way through the rampaging crowd, doing his best to go along with the flow in order to avoid being trampled. "Tsuna, why would he…?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Heart in his throat, Tsuna quickly scanned ahead of them and all but dragged Takeshi into one of the smaller offshoots of the main street, ducking into the empty alleyway. "This can't be good, though. Dying Will Flames, they're not… Reborn told me the theory behind them, how everyone has a Flame burning inside their core. It's what gives us _life,_ but… just, it's not just anyone who can draw it out. The mafia knows how to harness this power, so they developed the appropriate training methods for it…"

"But this is a _game_." Takeshi's eyes furrowed, "I mean, how does that even work? Unless Kayaba installed a set of Flame-based skills like those Sword Skills…? If he programmed it into the system, maybe…"

He trailed off, seeing his friend frown at whatever he saw on the screen floating in front of him.

"Tsuna?"

"Check your skill page, Takeshi." Tsuna said instead, biting his lip, "Follow the instructions there and tell me what you see. Please."

"A-Alright," the dark-haired boy nodded and opened his own menu, navigating to the 'Skills' tab. There was a subcategory there titled 'Dying Will Flame.' Takeshi clicked on the subcategory with a single finger, which led to another page where only one skill was listed –'Determine Attribute.'

He pressed the button.

And that was when he felt it, a small tugging sensation in his navel. The sensation of something pulling at his flames, something that didn't make _sense_ –wasn't this supposed to be the avatar in a virtual world? How was it possible to feel something like this so clearly? It felt almost as if he was in his real body, and someone was trying to drain his flames–

_Congratulations! You have now activated your Rain Flames._

"Takeshi?"

"I…" he glanced up at Tsuna, shaken by what had just happened. "It says I have Rain Flames. How does it even know–?"

"Under your HP bar, is there an extra one there now?"

"Y-Yeah. Yeah, there is. It… huh, it's _way_ ahead of what I have for HP." Takeshi scratched his head, frowning at the implications. If this game could somehow measure the level of their Flames, it… it didn't bode well. "It's labeled FV, though. Something flame-related, I'm guessing?"

"It doesn't have any explanations for the abbreviation here, but I'm betting it refers to 'Fiamma Volts.'" Tsuna let out an explosive exhale, leaning on the wall behind himself, trying to get his bearings. "Damn. _Damn. _Just… damn. Reborn is going to kill me for this."

"What?" Takeshi blinked, startled by the non-sequitur at the end. "Wait, why Reborn…?"

"Because I just got us trapped in a game that could very well _kill us,_ if Kayaba is to be believed_._ And he is –or at least, he wasn't lying, not when he explained everything to us back there._"_ the brunet grimaced.

"Hyper Intuition?" the Rain inquired lightly, and Tsuna nodded. "Well… damn. It's not your fault, though, no one could've known what he planned for this game. What's our next move, Tsuna?"

"… I don't doubt that your dad probably knows what's happening right now. He'll take care of us, and probably try to find some sort of way to get the NerveGear off safely –Reborn will be helping as well, once he gets here, and we can only pray that Kyouya won't go on a rampage when he finds out what happened to us." Tsuna twitched at the thought. "Problem is, we don't know how long it'll take for them to find the solution to getting the NerveGear off safely, or... or if it's even possible in the first place. They'll probably have to call in favors and use their contacts to find help, but with the mess in Italy and all…"

Takeshi folded his arms.

"So… our other option is to clear the game." He frowned and tapped his chin thoughtfully, "It's not going to be easy. The beta testing took, what, two to three months? They only got up to the tenth floor during that time. Even assuming we go twice as fast since there's more people playing the game now, that's almost _two years_. And with more people, Kayaba might decide to increase the level of difficulty, too."

"In short, we're stuck here for the foreseeable future," Tsuna concluded grimly with a soft sigh. "Wonderful. At least we won't have to worry about the exams next week."

Takeshi let out a sharp bark of laughter, "Tsuna, I'd actually _welcome_ the exams now if it means they'll let us out of here."

"I know. But we're stuck here for now, aren't we? Seeing as we don't know how long it'll take, we might as well try to see whatever silver lining there is in our current situation," the young Sky pointed out.

"Yeah, it's just…" Takeshi let out a long breath, covering his eyes with his arm and tilting his face upwards. "Sorry for snapping at you, Tsuna. I shouldn't have done that. It's just… my old man, we were supposed to see him today after this. What's he going to say when he learns about this? And… his birthday is coming up soon, too, and I wanted to actually _be there_ with him, y'know? We were going to invite you too, close the sushi bar for a day, and–"

"Then we just have to make it out of here, won't we?" Tsuna said gently, moving his hands over Takeshi's gripping them firmly to let it sink in that _he wasn't alone_ and _they could do this._ "This is going to change a lot of things, seeing as we can't let ourselves die in the field anymore, but it just means we'll have to take a careful approach. No more provoking titanic boars way out of our level range and running off the edge of a cliff again, alright?"

"Roger that, Boss." Takeshi gave a slightly strangled laugh, and Tsuna bumped him lightly in the shoulder.

"I asked you not to call me that, didn't I?" the shorter boy corrected, though without any real heat in his voice. "It's 'Tsuna,' okay? Or… 'Natsu,' I guess, seeing as we're in a game right now, even though it's not really a game anymore…"

"A death game, more like." Takeshi shook his head and straightened, recovering his bearings and getting himself under control again. "Okay. Okay. So… focus on beating the game. Right. Crap, I just realized I'm going to be missing a lot of baseball if we don't get out of here soon…"

Tsuna laughed, glad at seeing Takeshi regain most of his composure. "Then we'll just have to try our best so we can go back to the real world soon, no? It's a good thing that we're used to fighting already, I guess. Though, it's certainly going to be weird fighting animals here for a change…"

"Ah, I second that thought." Takeshi pushed himself off the wall, stretching. "I guess that's another way to look at it –we're going through a period of intensive combat training here. Hey, isn't that what Full Dive technology was originally invented for?"

"I think I might've heard that mentioned somewhere." Tsuna nodded, then shivered. "Shouldn't be as bad as Reborn's boot camp, though, right?"

_Other than the threat of death hanging over our heads, because no matter how much of a slave-driver Reborn is, he knows our limits. He wouldn't kill us. This game, it effectively hangs a Sword of Damocles over our heads. How many people will be able to withstand this type of pressure without cracking?_

"I hope Klein and Kirito are alright."

Right; they had gotten separated from each other during the mass-teleportation. Both of them were good people, but… death was seldom fair. Tsuna would know; all he could hope for right now was that they would stay alive and safe. Kirito was probably the least of their worries, being a beta tester and all –Klein was a different matter altogether. But he had a good head on his shoulders, and with what Kirito had taught them about SAO itself, it would be as good of a start as they would ever get.

The Dying Will Flames, however…

Just the fact that Dying Will Flames were added as a feature of this game was worrisome. If what he suspected –if what he had _felt_ when the system determined his Flame affinity– was true, then it meant that Kayaba had some ulterior motive behind developing this game. Breaking Omerta and revealing the existence of Dying Will Flames to civilians, then forcing them to fight their way through a hundred-floor floating castle? It sounded ludicrous when put into context like that, but that didn't mean it was any less true.

Just what was Kayaba after?

Tsuna focused his gaze to the left again. His FV gauge, like Takeshi's, far outstripped his HP bar, which seemed minuscule in comparison. Considering this, it was likely that the game system had made realistic calculations of their flame levels _as they were in reality._ Somehow, the system had been able to reach out and assess their Flame levels, before converting it into in-game data. There were many ways to measure Fiamma Volts, but they generally required some sort of special apparatus to do so.

Unless, was it part of the NerveGear somehow?

(Why would someone try to install a Flame-assessing mechanism into what was supposed to be the equivalent of a game console? It didn't make _sense._)

Tsuna was many things, but thickheaded and oblivious were two things that he hadn't been for a long time, not since Reborn had first taken him under his wing. His intuition was accurate –and right now, it was telling him that there was something _more_ to this. But just what was it? If the man went to all this effort to create this game… just what was in it for Kayaba Akihiko?

He asked Takeshi what he thought about the matter, only to be met with a small shrug.

"Well, I guess we'll find out when we reach the 100th Floor and get out, won't we?"

"… Ah. Yeah, I guess we will."

* * *

November 06, 2022.

The long-anticipated SAO is finally up and running, but it is not the game that people had hoped for.

* * *

.

…

.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Hi everyone. Welcome to _As Fire Blazes on the Horizon._

KHRxSAO crossovers don't seem to be very popular, seeing as there are only three other stories in the archives at this point, but I couldn't resist trying my hand at this. :3 The idea for _As Fire Blazes on the Horizon_ has been stewing in my mind for awhile, and when I browsed around the site for fanfics with a similar premise to what I have here, well… I couldn't find what I had in mind.

(And when you can't find the fanfic you want to read, what do you do? Go and try to write it yourself, of course. xD)

This story is going to be pretty AU. I'll be taking several liberties with both KHR and SAO in an attempt to mesh the two worlds together –we'll see how well the mixing goes as the story progresses. Note that I'll try to keep the cast in-character to the best of my ability, but be forewarned that things might not be perfect, especially since there's also the AU aspect of this all to consider. Which will make more sense as the story develops more, I suppose. I'm pretty sure that some AU aspects are already apparent from this first chapter.

No yaoi/yuri in this fic. The only pairing I know for sure will be in this fic is Kirito/Asuna, and I haven't made up my mind about the rest of the cast yet, though I'm leaning towards gen.

… Well.

Feel free to leave a note with any questions you might have about this story, and I'll see what I can do to respond. Or if you're interested in seeing this continued, yeah? :D Keep in mind that if you leave anonymous guest reviews, I can't respond to anything.

-XxZuiliu


	2. 1:02 Welcome to (Virtual) Reality

Title: As Fire Blazes on the Horizon

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! or Sword Art Online.

Warnings: **AU, WIDELY AU.**

(AN at bottom.)

* * *

.

* * *

Initially, when the SAO server had first opened, the Town of Beginnings was awash in a bright, festive mood. Excitement was palpable and practically all but tangibly stringing through the air as players swarmed the streets, bustling about, eyes bright with enthusiasm as they went about the basics of starting the game.

Needless to say, this eagerness fell into a steep plummet downwards ever since Kayaba Akihiko made his announcement. Now, the cheer and merriness had been replaced with a dreary sort of gloom and despair lurking in the background.

Unease, apprehension, fear.

… Fear of death.

It certainly made _sense,_ Tsuna conceded. And, as much as they needed every player out training and grinding levels in order to clear this game as fast as possible, it was perfectly natural that some would be shocked into inaction at this unexpected turn of events of being trapped in this virtual world. After all, for the vast majority of players, SAO was only a way to relax or have some fun.

The death game that the VRMMORPG had been forcibly turned into was something else entirely.

Yes, of course there was also the possibility that the people outside the game were busy trying to uncover a way to release those who had been trapped inside. More than simply a possibility, it was a given _certainty_. The government would definitely begin rescue efforts, but whether they would actually be successful in their endeavors…

(SAO was an intricately-designed game that had taken _years'_ worth of research and investment to evolve into the stage that it was now at today, not to mention the earlier development that had gone into the creation of VR technology beforehand. So, even assuming that the government had the resources to end this 'hostage situation,' how long would it take for them to do so?

They really couldn't afford to be sitting around listlessly, waiting and hoping for a miracle to happen.)

"Tsuna?"

"Yeah?" the young Sky glanced up at the sound of his name, smiling lightly as he caught sight of his friend jogging over. "Done already?"

Takeshi gave an easy shrug to the offhand inquiry. "Eh, there wasn't much to choose from, anyways. I'm guessing that the equipment will probably get better later on in the game; for now, this will have to do."

At that comment, the taller teen made a vague sort of gesture towards the new weapon already hanging at his waist. Unlike the basic sword that all players started out with upon creating their avatars, the blade of this one was much thinner, and the shape of it –while not completely accurate and still left much to be desired– clearly resembled a katana much more than the standard weapon that was given to everyone. Which was probably what Takeshi had been aiming to change in the first place anyways, when he had gone into the weapons shop for new equipment.

(Tsuna himself wasn't much for fighting with swords; that was much more Takeshi's area of expertise, really.)

"I heard some other players talk about forming hunting groups together back there. Parties," Takeshi gave a small nod in the general direction of the shop he had just exited. "They're still looking for people to head out into Emerald Forest. Should we switch an area?"

There weren't too many people actively taking part in the game right now. That was something sure to change soon –and Tsuna, for one, held no wishes to get caught in a dispute over resources with any of the other players in the game. So far, he and Takeshi had been sticking to the less player-frequented areas even with the sparse number of people out and about, but there was no telling how much longer that would last.

It wasn't as if they were actively going out of their way to avoid other players –it was more of the simple matter of fact that they didn't want to attract attention.

Tsuna held no doubts that SAO was being closely monitored; VR technology was still a relatively new development, all things considered. And any game would be monitored to a certain extent for guaranteeing players' safety; even though this unexpected turn of events meant that there was nothing remotely safe about SAO anymore… the introduction of Dying Will Flames changed everything. In fact, by this point, Tsuna would be more surprised if the game _wasn't_ being carefully monitored by Kayaba and his developers.

To be sure, Tsuna was well aware that the relative anonymity that he and Takeshi currently had wasn't something that would last forever. This wasn't pride or arrogance speaking mindlessly: Even just by looking at their FV gauges which were _several times the length_ of their respective HP bars, it was blatantly obvious that whatever tenuous grasp they still retained on normalcy here was fragile at best; never mind the fact that both of them were… well _acquainted_ with the underbelly of the darker world that ran parallel to what was dubbed as 'normal society.'

(Tsuna had the sneaking suspicion that they wouldn't be able to stay hidden even if they tried, not if they wanted to clear the game and return to reality.)

So far, the game had only introduced Dying Will Flames in the instructional manual as something that was 'part of the natural order of the world,' an 'intrinsic foundation upon which all life draws the strength to flourish and thrive.' Which was frustratingly vague as far as explanations went, but it wasn't _wrong._ And if what he suspected was true, if there would be more information on Dying Will Flames revealed to the player population as the game progressed…

…

_Who in the world is Kayaba, really, if he is so willing to flaunt the laws of Omerta like this? What is his goal for doing so? What does he even hope to accomplish with this?_

… For now, Tsuna could only bite his tongue and put his questions aside. Thinking of these questions would lead to nothing but going around in circles in an exercise of futility; unless he had more information, any guesses and conjectures he could make on the possible motives and reasoning for changing SAO into a death game right now were inconclusive.

Better to put his mind on more pressing concerns at the moment.

"So, there are some people gathering a full party to go to Emerald Forest?" he turned his attention back to Takeshi, who gave a small nod in response. "In that case… well, since we still have to hunt some of the monsters there for quest items, let's just start heading over now and see if we can gather enough items before they finish organizing themselves. There's no guarantee that we'll run into each other at all, since the forest is pretty big, anyways. The spawn rate is pretty high in that area too, right?"

"The spawn rate might be high, yeah, but I think you're forgetting about the low drop rate," Takeshi laughed, casually slinging an arm over the shorter brunet's shoulder. "Well, whatever you say, Tsuna. It's not like there's too many people out fighting monsters right now, anyways; I'd give it a couple more days before we start seeing any mad scrambles for claiming 'hunting grounds'…"

Even though his laughter seemed carefree, there was still a glint of something sharp in his eyes, a sharpness that said he fully understood the possible consequences of being caught in such a 'mad scramble.'

Tsuna wholly approved.

* * *

…

It had been completely and utterly unexpected.

… No, he wasn't referring to how SAO had suddenly been turned into a death game trapping 10,000 players in a virtual reality world. Even if that announcement _had_ been completely and utterly unexpected, it wasn't exactly what he was referring to at the moment.

Kirito stared at his hand.

The hand that had been clutching his sword a moment ago, looked far too perfectly smooth to be real skin, and was incapable of feeling pain. Not for the first time, he felt incredibly grateful for the fact that the pain settings in this game were fixed so that only mild discomfort would be felt even if one was gored through the stomach by a rampaging monster, though that _really wasn't the point here._

…

… So he might've underestimated the Dying Will Flames a little from when Kayaba had implemented the system in the game. To be fair, he had been under the impression that it was only some kind of randomized attribute that might possibly give type-advantages or disadvantages over various monsters later on in the game –and not, y'know, _actual flames that could spontaneously combust from his hands._

The sudden sound of shattering glass caught his attention, and Kirito very nearly felt his jaw drop as the sword he had been using –the sturdy sword with fairly nice stats for a beginner swordsman such as himself, mind you– break apart into a multitude of pixilated lights announcing the destruction of the item. Which, as far as he remembered, still had a ways to go until the durability was worn down low enough that it would break down like this.

Speechless, the young teenager silently gaped at the empty space where his sword had once sat after he dropped it, when he somehow became a _pyromaniac with green flames _and promptly set the entire length of his sword ablaze.

… How was something like this even _possible_ in-game?

(No, he was _not_ freaking out, thank you very much. Even if there should be an _extent_ as to how much _craziness_ could happen in such a short span of time. _He was not freaking out because apparently this new Dying Will Flame System meant that he could shoot green flames from his hands._)

…

_Congratulations on the First Usage of your Lightning Flames after activation! Accomplishment Reward: +20 FV._

Kirito stared blankly at the words that had appeared in front of him, letting the sheer bizarreness of the entire situation sink in for another moment more, before sighing and finally beginning to pull his composure together again. Honestly speaking, he wasn't quite sure what had sparked the green flames leaping from his fingers in the first place –_no pun intended_. He had only been grinding mobs like usual, the same as what he had been doing for the last few days…

Wait.

A chill ran down his spine –_how could I have not noticed earlier; this is so _stupid, _so careless_– as he caught sight of his HP gauge. His HP gauge that was _nearly empty._

He… He had been about to use a potion when the mob in the area had respawned earlier than he thought it would; there hadn't been _time_. When the red-eyed monsters had snarled and charged, Kirito had been solely focused on cutting down as many of them as possible…

… Was there some sort of correlation here?

Dying Will Flames…

_Dying Will Flames. _

Dying. Will.

… Even though nearly everyone in the game had already activated their Dying Will Flames by this point, Kirito still had yet to see anyone actually _use _them for any practical purposes. Going by the name of it alone, though… did that mean in order to actually use the flames, one had to let monsters reduce their HP to dangerous levels in order to draw it out like this?

(Too risky. Much too risky. If this was really the method, that meant players had to purposely–)

Kirito quickly downed a potion before he could finish the thought.

…

* * *

Argo was frustrated.

In general, she made it a _point_ to be informed. The whole 'being trapped in SAO with a real prospect of death hanging over our heads' issue was somewhat akin to a getting whacked with a sledgehammer over the head.

Scratch that, it _was_ the equivalent of a sledgehammer over the head, and she didn't like it.

At.

All.

… And then Kayaba had gone and introduced the Dying Will Flames System.

It didn't make _sense._ As far as she knew, these 'flames' didn't really do anything aside from separating everyone into different classes of flame types according to some random order. It was possible, then, that the flames were meant to act as attribute advantages or disadvantages against the monsters in-game, but so far _none_ of the monsters here on the First Floor had shown themselves to be aligned with any flame type. So, if this was really the main purpose of the flames –which she highly doubted– why in the world hadn't Kayaba integrated the First Floor monsters into this Dying Will Flame System during his impromptu update, if he had already done so for 10,000 players?

That meant there _must_ be something more to the Dying Will Flames than what there seemed to be on the surface. As to what that 'something' was, though…

Idly swinging her feet from where she sat perched upon the wall, Argo's lips curved into a thoughtful frown.

What little info there was for Dying Will Flames under the description on the page was as good as nothing: _'Dying Will Flames have existed ever since Creation and are part of the natural order of the world. It is the intrinsic foundation upon which all life draws the strength to flourish and thrive. Dying Will Flames are measured in Fiamma Volts.'_

There was absolutely no explanation whatsoever about the special characteristics of the six different flame types that players found themselves matched with. Absolutely _nothing._ And that was more than enough to set off the alarm bells in her mind, because, honestly? This was downright _suspicious,_ this new system that had been hastily introduced to SAO on the day of the opening launch.

Even just by looking at the simple abbreviations in the 'Character Stats' page –Hit Points were shown as 'HP,' Attack Power was 'AP,' Luck was shortened as 'LK;' so on and so forth. According to the usual trend, Dying Will Flames should have been abbreviated as 'DW.' But instead, in the single slot separate from the other number stats on the page, the measure of Dying Will Flames was innocuously recorded under 'FV.'

FV.

Fiamma Volts.

… It was entirely possible that she was over-thinking things here and just nitpicking in general, but it didn't make _sense,_ that Dying Will Flames would stand out like this on its own. And that aside, Argo also had a growing hunch that these Dying Will Flames were far, far more complicated than what she suspected them to be.

Kayaba had specifically stated during his so-called 'tutorial' that, _"I recommend that you all adapt quickly and learn to harness your Flames –this skill will prove both indispensible and invaluable to you in clearing the game." _So that meant there must be something special to the flames, something which made them important to the game, and therefore important to their _survival_, which meant that she _had_ to get to the bottom of this.

Preferably sometime before the next century.

…

There was also the glaring fact that the Dying Will Flames hadn't been introduced during the beta, which was why they were all so horribly clueless on the workings of these flames right now. But, struggles of even beta-players in regards to practical use of Dying Will Flames aside…

The gameplay itself between the closed beta and the official launch was very similar. Argo had no doubt that there would be minor changes to what beta players knew, updates and changes to make the game more 'exciting' and unpredictable later on, but the overall template didn't seem to be too different so far.

In that case, right now the main difference between the beta-SAO and current-SAO was Kayaba's ultimatum.

_You have no choice but to clear the game if you want to return to the real world._

In other words: _You have no way to log out anymore; you are trapped here._

…

Current-SAO effectively cut off all communication between players and the real world. They would not be able to contact anyone on the outside for help, yes, but looking at it in another way –_they would not be able to convey to anyone outside about anything that was going on in the game._

Considering that, then…

There was the undeniable implication that Kayaba didn't want anyone to know about Dying Will Flames.

_Why?_

And… the threat of _death_ in SAO, _Dying_ Will Flames… was there any connection between the two?

…

Huffing out a small breath, Argo drew up her 'Friends' list and started scrolling through her contacts again, firing off quick messages to various players.

_[Have you discovered anything new about Dying Will Flames?]_

* * *

"… Well, this is new."

Blinking, Tsuna tried reaching out to the small brook with his fingertips again. The result was the same –there was some sort of invisible wall floating several inches above the water's surface that prevented him from getting any nearer to the water itself. And while this sensation felt utterly strange and perplexing and completely out of place, it also didn't take long for him to realize that this was probably one of the 'out of bounds' areas that wasn't meant to be accessed by players in a game. Mere background scenery meant more for aesthetic effects than any sort of practical use.

And… okay, so maybe being in a forest like this reminded him a little of one of Reborn's spontaneous 'camping trips,' where the Italian basically just threw him headfirst into the wilderness and told him he would come back for him later. Which could last anywhere from three days to an entire month.

In a way, Tsuna was used to 'living off the land' and gathering needed resources for himself, which was a stark contrast against swiping the air to bring out an inventory panel. Not that the latter wasn't convenient, but it was… weird, really.

(Only another sharp reminder that they were trapped in this world of virtual reality.)

"What are you doing over there, Tsuna?"

"Sorry, Takeshi. Er… force of habit, I guess." the young Sky sheepishly scratched the back of his head, standing to his feet again. "Don't mind me over here…"

His Rain seemed to connect the dots in an instant as he looked from Tsuna to the happily-gurgling brook, and gave a small laugh. "Not exactly what you were expecting when you heard water in this direction, huh?"

"Yeah," Tsuna agreed softly with a faint twinge of embarrassment, raising his hand in the air and drawing it down in a sharp line. The stream of light trailing his fingertips from the sudden motion scrolled out into the menu screen with a swipe to the side, and Tsuna began navigating his way to the 'Use' tab in his inventory, where consumable items could be accessed.

A moment later, the air next to him shimmered, and a bottle of water fell into his hand.

"… This feels so weird." he made a small face before unscrewing the lid and drinking. One would think that things like hunger and thirst would be eliminated from the game entirely, but apparently the developers of SAO had decided to include it in order to 'enhance the game experience by adding a dose of reality.'

(Tsuna begged to differ on that point. Most of the foods they had eaten so far were bland and tasteless.)

To the side, Takeshi merely gave a hum of agreement as he checked on the status of his katana-like sword. On one hand, the whole maintenance issue with the equipment in SAO was realistic in that one always had to be careful with the upkeep of their weapons, but on the other hand, the durability of the weapons they had been using so far left much to be desired.

Takeshi clucked his tongue and let the sword in his hand fade into a storm of pixilated particles of light, before bringing out another copy of the same weapon. "Good thing I had the foresight to buy more than one of these back at the shop."

"Good thing we were forewarned about this whole 'durability' issues with weapons from the SAO forums," Tsuna supplied dryly, before starting a check of his own equipment. "You'd think that they would mention how easily the swords break apart here…"

"Actually, I think that might be because of the swords themselves." Takeshi drew up the item description for one of his swords to show to Tsuna. "See this section here? If 'Attribute' is what I think it is, it's probably meant to align with certain flame types for different flame users. Right now everything we're seeing is 'No Attribute,' but that might be changing later on in the game when the quality of weapons gets better."

"Huh," Tsuna blinked. "You're probably right about that."

Right now, Tsuna found himself using a short dagger. Although he didn't care much for practicing any type of bladework in general, he knew his way around using them well enough –courtesy of the tender mercies of a certain Spartan hitman– which was all he could ask for, really. Of course there were also other weapons available in the game –spears, hammers, axes; just to name a few– but in all honesty, he was probably better off with using a normal dagger. If it hadn't been for the simple fact that using weapons in SAO gave stat bonuses and increased overall attack power, Tsuna would've thrown away the dagger a long time ago.

(Yamamoto Tsuyoshi had once remarked that Tsuna looked much too harmless to be as skilled as he was in hand-to-hand combat as he was. Reborn had only smirked in response at the time, silently acknowledging the tacit compliment to the young brunet under his wing.)

"So, how many more of these 'Soft Wolf Pelts' do we need again?"

"Nine more, I think." Tsuna opened up his quest menu. _Collecting Supplies to Make a Coat (1) -Item Required: Soft Wolf Pelt (16/20)._ "We need twenty each; I've got sixteen here, and you still need five more, right?"

"Mmhm."

"Okay," he gave a small nod. "In that case, since we're almost done, let's begin heading back. I remember passing a mob somewhere to the east when we were on our way here; it should've respawned by this point. We'll go to Southeast Village to turn in our quests after this."

"Alright," the Rain agreed to the plan amiably and they automatically fell in in line next to each other as they started out again.

Takeshi was a swordsman, which meant that the swordplay of SAO was something firmly in his element –though, he seemed to purposely avoid using the Sword Skills of the system.

Tsuna couldn't blame him for that; using Sword Skills felt _wrong._

Perhaps for others, it would be something amazing, exhilarating –to be able to perform feats of athleticism impossible in reality with aid of the SAO system– but for him, these Sword Skills were only something that locked him into a set of predetermined movements, from where there was no changing things. Even if he tried to, say, target a different monster midway after having already activated the Sword Skill, it was _impossible._ The system wouldn't register the change in targets in order to carry out the ongoing Sword Skill.

Personally, Tsuna felt that the Sword Skills were too rigid and lacked adaptability and change. Which was why he understood Takeshi's reluctance to use the Sword Skills at all. Heck, if he felt this way about only using a _dagger _when he wasn't even much for swordplay in the first place, he could only imagine how Takeshi felt about the whole Sword Skills system offered here in SAO.

Besides, they had their own way of making up for the lack of usage of Sword Skills in their repertoire.

"Heads up, Tsuna, I think we've found a pack of Dire Wolves heading our way." Takeshi drew his sword as the telltale wolf howls came into hearing, accompanied by the dry crunch of grass underfoot.

The first wolf that burst forth from the underbrush in front of them found the tip of a sword cleanly slicing through its throat in a clear beheading motion. But whereas this strike would've proven fatal in reality, the dark brown wolf merely snarled as it stumbled backwards, the HP bar floating above its head moving downwards in a steady decrease. Takeshi wasn't one to overlook any openings; as soon as he saw it stumble, he quickly followed up with a veritable blur of slashes that swiftly finished off the crimson-eyed wolf in a blood-curling howl, and the monster burst into a mass of disintegrating red particles.

Then the Rain turned and they stood back to back with each other, as the rest of the wolf pack made their presence known, snarling viciously as they prowled forth in a circle enclosing them inside.

"Ready when you are, Tsuna."

"Do you even need to ask?" the brunet huffed lightly, and Takeshi laughed in response before a serious light entered his eyes again.

Unspoken, both of them reached for their flames at the same time, and _moved_.

The length of Takeshi's sword was engulfed in a flickering wave of pale blue just as orange flames wreathed themselves over the dagger in Tsuna's hand; both teens charged forward in a sudden, explosive burst of speed. The damage that would've taken a good while to dish out was dealt in a mere fraction of the time it would've taken. Though, the wolf mob that they ran into looked like it was probably meant for a full six-person party to fight; there seemed to be a near-endless number of wolves that kept pouring into the clearing no matter how many they cut down before them.

It was a good thing that they were starting to get slightly overleveled for this area –that, and the simple fact that they had access to their flames.

As suspicious and nerve-wracking as the prospect of Dying Will Flames being openly revealed in a VRMMORPG was, Tsuna couldn't deny that it was also certainly making things a lot easier on the combat end for him and Takeshi. Because no matter how much combat experience they had in reality, none of that directly translated over to a game in which strength was determined by numbers and data.

Tsuna was in the middle of cutting down another large wolf and whirling to take on the one that was trying to leap on Takeshi's back when–

"_HyaaaaAAAAARGH!"_

* * *

The mixed sounds of sharp howls and guttural snarls filling the air from the wolves surrounding them was expected. The piercing shout of the _human voice _that suddenly rang through the clearing was not, and it was for that reason that Takeshi experienced a clear moment of pure _'Huh?'_ midway through carving a hole into a wolf's stomach.

"_HyaaaaAAAAARGH!"_

His instincts screaming in his chest to _dodge like hell_ the moment he heard the wild battle cry behind him, he immediately lunged to his left. The split-second decision wasn't made a moment too soon; even though he was already midway through the process of leaping out of the way, the glowing red streak indicative of a Sword Skill still clipped him on his leg in its mad charge towards the Dire Wolf he had been fighting.

(Sometimes, Takeshi still had that jarring moment of disconnection when there was no pain from any of the injuries he received while fighting. Cuts were only a crimson line on the body that faded in a heartbeat; also, there was no familiar resistance of steel on flesh. It was still something he was trying to familiarize himself to in combat right now, since the expectation of resistance against his blade was throwing off his balance slightly.)

"What in the world…?"

Takeshi frowned, glancing upwards at the crazy brown-haired man who had appeared out of nowhere and charged recklessly into the fray. A quick check on his HP gauge showed that the Sword Skill he'd nearly been caught in the middle of had sent it sliding downhill. Nothing too significant, thankfully, but it wasn't exactly what would qualify as a small dip, either, so Takeshi felt perfectly justified in the edge of irritation that was currently rising and coiling in his chest.

After all, this wasn't a 'safe zone' like the towns were. This was an area in which one's HP dropping to zero meant _death._ There was no time to be entertaining careless incidents, not like this.

The brash man's sword began glowing purple with the activation of yet another Sword Skill as he shouted something utterly cliché along the lines of, 'Never fear, Superman is here!'

Takeshi could only shake his head and throw his hands up in helpless surrender at this point.

(Personally, he felt that the Sword Skills programmed into this game were stiff, awkward. He would know. Once a player shifted into position, their movements became completely locked into the path designed by the game developers. There was no altering directions or adjusting strength behind the blow afterwards; whatever the game decided on, it was what the player's body was forced to go through with.

… If being in the world of SAO hadn't meant putting their lives on the line, maybe Takeshi would've entertained the idea of going along with these sword skills programmed in the game, just for fun. But SAO wasn't a game to be played for fun anymore. It was a game to be played for survival and _escape_.)

"Takeshi!"

"'M fine, Tsuna." Takeshi tried to protest against the small red vial that his Sky all but shoved into his hands, but the stubborn look in the small brunet's eyes clearly conveyed that Tsuna wouldn't be taking 'no' for an answer from him. He sighed and uncorked the bottle, quickly downing the potion in a few gulps before re-assessing the situation around them as his HP bar went up again.

Apparently, the hotheaded idiot who'd nearly hit him with a Sword Skill was part of a six-man party. There were five more unfamiliar faces in the clearing now in addition to the man who had charged in earlier; currently, they were still in the process of killing off the remaining Dire Wolves. Which certainly explained how Tsuna had been able to come over and check up on him, since now it was no longer necessary for him to keep on fighting.

"Idiots," Tsuna muttered darkly as he looked out at the new arrivals, and Takeshi felt compelled to agree with his Sky on that.

Even though both of them were normally fairly amiable and well-tempered, that didn't mean they didn't have a bottom line not to be crossed. Takeshi himself certainly wasn't feeling very charitable towards these newcomers at this point, though he _did_ acknowledge that they might've genuinely been trying to help. Two people against a whole pack of wolves meant for a full party wasn't exactly something considered to be good odds, after all.

It took a few more moments before the last wolf fell, letting out a pitiful snarl as it shattered into a multitude of fading lights.

… _We would've been finished much earlier if they hadn't interrupted._

Takeshi didn't voice this thought aloud.

"Nice job, everyone!" the brazen brown-haired man who'd been the first to throw himself into the clearing straightened from where he had been frozen in the finishing pose of a fading Sword Skill, recovering normal movement now that the skill's cool-down time was over. He turned around to face the rest of his party with a lopsided smile on his face, "We're all still in one piece, right?"

"Yeah, we're good."

"A-Okay here, Kibaou!"

"… Fine."

Takeshi bit back the urge to frown again. _This_ was the _leader_ of the party? The same person who'd nearly hit him with a Sword Skill in his carelessness?

"Oi, you guys over there." The man –Kibaou– was looking at him and Tsuna now after having checked inn on the players with him, a scowl present on his lips and reprimand in his voice. "You're lucky we were swinging by; if we hadn't come in time–"

"We would still be perfectly fine, thank you very much." Tsuna said tartly, and Kibaou bristled angrily.

"Now, look here–" the man folded his arms across his chest. "What the hell were you thinking, taking on a whole pack of Dire Wolves like this with only two people? Are you guys purposely trying to get yourselves killed?"

Tsuna's eyes narrowed.

"What in the world did _you_ think _you_ were doing when you charged in recklessly?" Tsuna's voice was low and quiet, but the vehemence embedded in his tone had the man faltering and taking a small step backwards in face of the young Sky's rage. "Are you _blind?_ You could've killed someone with that Sword Skill of yours!"

"H-Hey, he got out of the way, didn't he?" Kibaou shifted nervously (guiltily), holding up his hands in a placating manner that was not placating in the least. "Your friend is fast on his feet; I knew I wouldn't hit him. Besides, I shouted out to let him know I was going to be switching in, didn't I? It's not like I jumped in without any warning!"

"Because clearly, a garbled shout is the universal signal for switching in from a person's _blind spot_ and they should get the hell out of your way or die."

Ouch. Takeshi knew that Tsuna had been picking up more and more of Reborn's mannerisms over time, but there were few moments when it really showed –and this cutting dry voice that could put a desert to shame was clearly one of them.

"Look, I'm not trying to PK anyone here!" the cactus-haired man shouted in frustration. "I… you ungrateful little brat; I was just worried that we were going to be too late! Show some gratitude, why don't you?"

_Oh, this is going to hurt._

"Really?" Tsuna's voice was dangerously soft. "What if he hadn't gotten out of the way in time? Are you telling me that you want me to show you gratitude for almost killing my friend?"

Silence.

"Some might admire your… willingness, to 'play hero.' But if you're not careful, you might find yourself ending up as nothing but a villain, a thoughtless murderer instead." Tsuna spun around and began striding away without so much as a single glance backwards, "I suggest you actually _use your head_ if you ever run into a situation like this again, instead of being so quick to jump the gun. Wouldn't want any… _'accidents'_ on your hands, ne? … Takeshi, we're leaving."

Wordlessly, Takeshi turned to follow his Sky.

Even if this incident was an honest accident on the hotheaded man's part, hearing these words… would definitely instill some caution in him, which, in retrospect, wasn't really a bad thing.

(Not everyone would be able to react as fast as he did in getting the hell out of Dodge, so to speak.)

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…

_[Have you discovered anything new about Dying Will Flames?]_

"What'cha doin', Mr. U?"

"Checking my inbox. What do you think?" the silver-haired teen shot back to the inane question of his fellow party member, and the taller teen whistled suggestively.

"Ha, found yourself a girlfriend already?"

The teen grimaced at the thought.

"Ugh, no." He muttered, typing out a quick response.

_[No luck with anyone else, Argo?]_

"So… think Kibaou is going to cheer up again anytime soon?" the other boy asked, and he could clearly tell that the tall teen was merely trying to strike up conversation for the sake of conversation. Not something he was interested in doing; not something he _needed _to do –especially since he wasn't planning to stay in this party anymore. Once was more than enough. There was only so much arrogance and sheer bullheadedness that one could take before calling it quits, after all.

Kibaou wasn't a _bad person_ per se. He had his heart in the right place, mostly –just, more often than not, the man went about the wrong way doing things with his rash tendencies. He himself was well aware that he also had quite the temper at times, but for the most part, he was capable of controlling himself. The same of which clearly couldn't be said for their self-proclaimed party leader.

_[You think I'd be sending out messages left and right like this if I had some info on this already? This is driving me crazy.]_

He paused for a moment.

_[Tough luck, Argo.]_

Then:

_[_… _You sure that there were no news about Dying Will Flames in the beta?]_

He received a response to this in record time.

_[NO.]_

… Well, it made sense. If any news of Dying Will Flames had gotten out in the beta, the Vindice would've came swooping down on Kayaba a long time ago, and the current situation of being trapped in SAO wouldn't even exist in the first place. He was well aware of the existence and usage of Dying Will Flames, but he was also hesitant to reveal any information about it –not because of something as silly as wanting to keep a hidden advantage, not when SAO needed as many people as possible actively playing and using Dying Will Flames in order to clear the game, but because of Omerta.

Kayaba clearly had no qualms about breaking Omerta. He was also clearly a madman.

(He did not envy Kayaba's position in the slightest when the Vindice would inevitably come for him.)

Although… at any rate, it seemed like he wasn't the only one experienced with Dying Will Flames in this game. The two that Kibaou had nearly bulldozed over earlier –_Natsu_ and _Kirisame_– while the others might've taken the glow of their weapons to be the telltale activation of sword skills, he knew better. The way the lights flickered, the way they weren't so much lights encapsulating the length of a sword as they were tendrils of flames wreathing the blade in a fiery embrace–

He might not have seen the color of Natsu's flame, but he had caught a clear glimpse of Kirisame's flame before he had extinguished it. And there was no doubt in his mind that Kirisame was _definitely_ one of the stronger Rains out there, going by the high purity of Rain flame that the color indicated. For someone like him to _voluntarily_ follow Natsu… what flame-type was Natsu, then?

Cloud?

It was a possibility; the brunet hadn't exactly seemed to be keen on hanging around when their six-man party had shown up.

(… But then again, it might also be because of Kibaou's idiocy that had garnered Natsu's ire and subsequent coldness.)

The two certainly hadn't _seemed_ like they were in trouble. If he hadn't already been aware of Kibaou's personality, he might've thought that the man was someone after 'easy pickings,' trying to take out the rest of the Dire Wolves mob after Natsu and Kirisame had done most of the heavy work. That Natsu and Kirisame maintained mostly-level attitudes even with Kibaou's aggressive attitude towards them in the aftermath instead of letting the volatile situation escalate into a fight could only mean good things for their respective tempers.

When Kibaou had recklessly charged in with an active Sword Skill –he had fully expected that Kirisame would be caught in the attack once he realized where the Rain stood: Directly in front of Kibaou and his mad rush to 'save' the duo.

Except Kirisame had managed to escape.

Even if he hadn't escaped from the full brunt of the damage, he had managed to get out of the line of fire. In other words, he had reacted _quick enough that the system hadn't managed to lock onto him as the target of Kibaou's attack_.

Which was utterly _insane,_ but somehow the crazy Rain had pulled it off.

So, for him to be clearly secured at side of that young brunet… just how strong would Natsu's flame have to be?

"Hey, you listenin' at all?"

"No, and you're welcome to stop your jabbering at any time," the silver-haired Storm drawled, and drew out his message inbox again when he received the notification of another message from the Rat.

_[Ki-bou found something on Dying Will Flames, Uragano. Get over here to the Town of Beginnings ASAP!]_

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**EDIT 6/14: Fixed the accidental misnaming of Lightning Flames in Kirito's congratulatory message. Thanks to everyone who pointed that out! **

**The mention of there only being six different flame types from Argo is _not_ an error, though. Sky flames are very rare, and right now there is little information in the game on Dying Will Flames anyways. Argo only knows about the six other flame types from a quick survey of her network of contacts, none of whom have Sky alignments.**

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**EDIT 6/18: On the topic of why Gokudera doesn't recognize Tsuna and Yamamoto, since I've been asked about it multiple times by now: Gokudera doesn't recognize them because he has never met them yet prior to this point. Remember the warnings of 'AU, WIDELY AU?' Yeah, this is part of that AU-ness in the story.**

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Author's Notes:

Apologies for the long wait in posting this next chapter –I totally did not expect to take so long in getting done with this update… but I won't make any promises as to when the next chapter after this will be up, either. I've realized by this point that I'm pretty terrible at predicting my update schedule; rest assured that I _will_ be working my way through this, though –even at a snail's crawl, if I must– since I've got a lot planned for this story by now and I really want to be able to get around to writing everything. And eventually finishing it someday, if I can. :D

Next chapter will probably include the battle with Illfang, I think. Probably. Can't really say anything for sure since I've only got three sentences typed up so far, but we should be getting to it next time.

Kibaou typically gets a lot of hate. Mostly, I'm thinking it's because of how he was basically like, 'beta-testers are evil!' Although, even though the guy is pretty unlikable, I still have a headcanon that he himself isn't 'evil.' Even if he has a tendency to keep blaming other people for his own mistakes or inadequacies. And. Stuff.

Also, please note that I might be making up some things in regards to the gameplay of SAO itself (such as monsters or equips, locations or NPCs, etc.). I am well aware that Sword Skills have names; however, since Tsuna and Yamamoto don't really use Sword Skills all that often, they're a little clueless on which Sword Skill is which at the moment, which is why they're referring to all Sword Skills as just 'Sword Skill' in their narratives.

Three guesses as to who Uragano is in the last section, and the first two don't count. xD Hint: 'Uragano'=Italian for 'Hurricane' (courtesy of Google Translate).

Thank you very much to everyone who left comments in the last chapter! Glad to see that there are people out there interested in what's been set up here so far. :D I'll do my best to keep the story moving along.

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_**NOTE:**_ For anyone who might happen to be keeping an eye out for _Incandescent,_ the **Tokyo Ghoul/KHR crossover** that I'm working on, it has been recently updated. Check it out if you're interested!

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**QUESTION(1):** Which characters are you looking forward to appearing in this story? Any character interactions that you're excited for in particular? (Requests here will be taken into note while writing the next chapter and planning out future plot points.)

**QUESTION(2):** Yes, I gave Kirito Lightning Flames. Any guesses on/suggestions for flame types of other SAO characters? (Again, responses here will be considered in future chapters.)

**QUESTION(3):** … Any thoughts on seeing the perspectives of people outside SAO at the moment? (Ex. Reborn, Yamamoto Tsuyoshi, Hibari…)

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Again, please feel free to ask me any questions you might have about _As Fire Blazes on the Horizon_. ;3 Note that I may not respond to some if they contain spoilers.

Leave a review~

-XxZuiliu


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